We’re back here again with Donna MacIntosh today, sharing a few more Michigan Tech webcam photos. This time still shots of the snowmobile tracks up and down the ice of the Portage Lake Canal and one photo showing tracks going under the Lift Bridge, too. That’s quite dangerous, because the water in the canal is a shipping channel with strong, changing currents, which can create unstable ice. Local authorities often warn against being on the ice in the Portage Canal, as there have been numerous reports of people and machines falling through the ice. That is why the Keweenaw Snowmobile Club and the City of Houghton work so hard to prepare the Lower Deck surface underneath the Lift Bridge, hauling in 75 truck loads of snow to cover it and make a trail for safe crossing from the Hancock/Ripley side of the Bridge, to the Houghton side and vice versa. Another spot that is dangerous on the canal is around the Ranger III at the dock on the Houghton side, as there are bubblers around the vessel to keep the ice from damaging the hull of the boat. So the ice is unstable near the Ranger III, with open water around her in spots.

So ride safe and smart, stay OFF the ice!!

We’re taking a snowmobile ride with Richard Harris, as they follow a musher and dog sled team while they’re training the sled dogs on the Dockside Resort Trail out in the Gay, MI area. Grab your snowpants and mitts and hang on!

Bob and I have snowmobiled Lake Superior from
Bayfield Wis. to Madeline Island and saw
mushers with their sled dog teams.That was pretty
amazing, don't see that here in Iowa.

I've been noticing all the snowmobile tracks on the
Portage this year. I don't think I've seen so many
since moving up here. It's a great winter for
snowmobiles. Very nice pictures!

You should see it now...it looks like a Main Drag!
I always heard when they plow the bridge, the salt
that's been on that, is now on the ice. That alone
would scare me enough to say NO thank you!

Great video too! I've not been to Dockside, but
their website looks so awesome, and the people I
know that have been there, absolutely love it!
Dockside Resort

Hi
I don't snowmobile. But I think to do it safely on
ice you would need to know the local conditions,
such as Mary described.

I wonder if the ice bridge formed between St.
Ignace and Mackinac Island this year?

Janie T., decades ago I remember going to a
dogsled race near Battle Creek. But we can't rely
on having enough snow nowadays to allow folks to
schedule events.

The thing that first caught my attention was seeing the occasional lone walker along the ice but in the middle of the night.